STEM Pathways offer students multiple opportunities to explore, prepare for and pursue STEM degrees and careers, expanding the notion that the only pathway to success is through a four-year university. Pathway programs are led and driven by community colleges that function as conduits between high schools, universities and jobs. These community college-led programs include 1) outreach to K-12 students, 2) technology-driven academic curriculum that lead students to industry-recognized credentials, 3) and early college options for high school students who earn transferable college credits toward these certifications and degrees. All programs are integrated with industry to keep the programs current, offer students real world experiences through outreach programs and internships, and give hiring preferences to students with nationally-recognized credentials.

An expanded version of the STEM Pathway’s Mission statement, that, although still brief, further explains the colleges goals for STEM Pathways programs relate to the larger vision of the school.

STEM Pathways Areas to Address

These represent the specific needs/interests of the school for the areas relating to STEM Pathways that they want to address in order to meet the state STEM Pathways Mission and Vision. The STEM Planning Team will decide on these based upon the results of the STEM Pathways Assessments they complete. These may be selected from specific areas where the assessments indicated a need, specific recommendations in the assessments, and/or specific external goals of the college.

STEM Pathways Goals/Objectives

Specific, MEASURABLE, goals for the college related to STEM Pathways which can be broken down in specific strategies and tasks to be implemented

STEM Pathways Components

Each STEM Pathways Goal will fall into one or more of the following components, all three of which combine create strong STEM Pathways programs

-STEM Education Outreach & Career Exploration

Community college-led activities and events that generate enthusiasm and engage student interest in STEM career fields.

Job and research experiences and competency-based programs with industry that align to industry-recognized credentials.

STEM Pathways Attributes

Each specific task to be completed to meet the desired goals should incorporate one or more of the following attributes outlined in the pathways guide as significant for the success of pathways programs

Integrated across the Pathway to provide better access to education resources, virtual tours, internships and mentorship,

-Curricular Alignment

Ensures that all course credits count toward a credential.

Tactics/Tasks

Individual action items that the college will need to take in order to meet the stated goals. Each goal will be broken up into a series of tactics/tasks, each of which can be measured, and all of which combined to help the college meet the stated goal.

Desired Outcomes

Specific measures to be collected for each stated goal. Each goal should have a series of measures collected at different points during their implementation, as well as a final measure collected in the end to determine if the overall goal was met.